Status reports

This presentation reviewed the status of APNIC's membership growth, resource status, and financial position for 2003.

In 2003, so far, there have been 59 new members, which is a higher rate of growth than in 2002. Most growth happens in the associate and very small membership categories, but increases in membership size were also depicted. Australia, Hong Kong, and India have the highest number of individual members.

APNIC currently holds 11 /8 blocks of IPv4 addresses, most of which are almost fully utilised. It is likely from current trends that APNIC will allocate substantially more IPv4 resources this year than any previous year. The economy with the most IPv4 addresses is JP, followed by CN, with KR, TW, AU, and HK after that. Japan and China are continuing to grow rapidly.

APNIC's IPv6 allocation rates have slowed down in 2003, but it is hoped that work on clarifying IPv6 policy will help.

ASN assignments are increasing steadily, although they have slowed slightly in 2003.

The rate of whois queries is climbing rapidly, with approximately one million queries per day at present. Web queries are growing exponentially.

There was an update of Secretariat status. In Member Services, the Helpdesk is seeing continued use, with an increased physical presence at other meetings in the region, such as SANOG. MyAPNIC has been developed further and will be demonstrated later in this meeting. A related project is the collection of verified, accurate corporate contact details for all APNIC members. The presenter encouraged all members to register their corporate contacts in order to make full use of MyAPNIC.

There have been more NIR exchange visits, from JPNIC, APJII, and VNNIC, and these have been mutually beneficial.

The training courses have been updated and restructured into separate "level one" and "level two" courses. DNS training has been introduced. APNIC is collaborating with other organizations, such as SOI-ASIA Japan, to increase the ways in which APNIC course material can be delivered. Training administration will be outsourced to the AIT in Thailand, to allow expansion of the program without the need to increase Secretariat capacity. Routing has been flagged as a possible future training subject.

In the documentation area, it was noted that there has been an emphasis on expanding the range of translated documentation on the web site, with policies, brochures, and other web site content now available in several languages.

In meeting development, simultaneous translation is now a regular service. Multicast is also being provided, although technical difficulties have restricted it at this meeting. For the first time, live transcripts are being provided in the meeting rooms, and also streamed online via the web site and through jabber services. The Onsite Notice Board is also available again.

With a US $15,000 grant from the World Bank, around 12 individuals have receives fellowships to attend this meeting. APNIC will continue to seek ways of increasing the diversity of attendance at APNIC meetings.

The presenter reviewed APNIC's participation in other meetings and outreach activities.

There was a review of other policy developments and discussions, which are to be discussed at greater length later in this meeting.

It was noted that after the success of APNIC's first sub-regional liaison position, there is now a recruitment process in place for a South Asia policy liaison officer.

In technical services developments, the early registration transfers are a major project. The database cleanup is underway, as are updates to whois software and MyAPNIC. There are further developments in internal systems, including development of a new events registration system, which will also be made available to APRICOT.

APNIC has a cooperative agreement with the ISC to deploy further F-Root servers around the region. So far, there have been deployments in Hong Kong and Korea, with work underway for a Beijing deployment in the coming week.

The Secretariat staffing has reached a stable level, at around 40. The Secretariat continues to have a high staff retention rate.

There was a review of the financial position. It was noted that the decrease in US dollar exchange rate has caused some budgetary effects. On one hand it causes increased local expenses for the Secretariat, but on the other hand it means that fees are cheaper for members in real terms. Due to these circumstances, both revenue and expenses are slightly under budget, with an expectation of a balanced budget by year end.

This report summarised the activities of the APNIC EC in 2003. The presenter introduced the EC members. He also summarised the role of the EC in oversight of the financial operations of APNIC, policy issues, Secretariat activities, and appointment of the Director General.

In terms of financial oversight, the EC reviews monthly financial reports, as well as the semi annual report.

The EC has discussed ICANN and IETF issues at length and has cooperated with other RIRs on these issues. The EC also meets with the ASO AC members from the Asia Pacific region.

It was also noted that all Executive Council meeting minutes are available on the web site.

The presenter provided an overview of the status of ARIN, including membership, resource services, policies, and technical developments.

ARIN is currently increasing its efforts to settle overdue accounts and has improved the billing tracking software.

Whois statistics show that ARIN receives an average of 31 queries per second. ARIN also needs to continue efforts to clean up the database. ARIN has revised its whois AUP. They have also completed a web based template generator.

Current projects include certification, IPv6 services, and ERX work.

The presenter noted continued growth in membership activities.

ARIN is developing a service similar to MyAPNIC.

The presenter welcomed articles to be submitted for the ARIN newsletter.

It was noted that of 788 requests for transfers in 2002, only 258 were completed. This was due to lack of sufficient legal documentation.

Address hijacking issues are increasing in significance and ARIN is investigating possible legal actions to deal with hijacking cases. It was noted that recently ARIN convinced eBay to delist an auction for a block of hijacked address space.

The ARIN policy development process is being reviewed and now includes a petition process to enforce policy review. The Advisory Council is also to play a greater role in the policy discussions. ARIN has also hired a full-time policy analyst. The presenter outlined the status of current policy proposals.

ARIN now runs one meeting back to back with NANOG each year. ARIN XII will be held in Chicago, and ARIN has arranged discounts with United Airlines.

The presenter provided an overview of the status of LACNIC, including membership, resource services, policies, and technical developments.

LACNIC serves 29 territories. About half of the LACNIC members are in Brazil, with many others distributed between Mexico, Argentina, and Chile.

LACNIC made large IPv4 allocations to registries in Brazil and Mexico in mid-2003. Since starting operation, LACNIC has made 155 IPv4 allocations.

LACNIC has also distributed 159 ASNs and nine IPv6 blocks.

The presenter reviewed the status of policy developments and working groups from the most recent LACNIC meeting, which was held in Santiago, Chile. He noted that all meeting results and materials are available on the LACNIC web site.

LACNIC conducts training sessions. It has held three in 2003, with three more planned before the end of the year.

LACNIC has developed an electronic voting system, a data warehousing project (which is available in web and java-based interfaces). LACNIC is developing a lame delegation reporting system.

The presenter noted that LACNIC is deeply involved in many RIR and other coordination and outreach activities. LACNIC organised a workshop to share information and help AfriNIC take the next steps towards establishment.

Questions and discussion

It was also noted that a LACNIC staff member will spend some time with the APNIC Secretariat later in 2003.

The presenter provided an overview of the status of RIPE NCC, including membership, resource services, policies, and technical developments.

In registration services, RIPE NCC has maintained a steady two day response time over the past two years. Ninety percent of requests are resolved within eight days. RIPE NCC has now brought in a member call-back service, with a view to eventually establishing a help desk.

The LIR Working Group has now been split into a Policy Working Group and the NCC Services Working Group.

RIPE NCC has performed more work on the LIR portal, which is similar to MyAPNIC. They have also been developing simplified resource request forms with interactive help.

RIPE NCC has now deployed a new copy of the K-Root server and is considering requests for additional hosting locations, including in the AP region.

Membership liaison is a current priority, with the appointment of a new membership liaison officer. RIPE NCC will also hold a two day regional workshop in Dubai in December 2003.

The presenter reviewed the status of Information Services in RIPE NCC. He noted that so far information services have been conducted in a high level, academic way. Due to some member concerns, there is a new strategy paper, RIPE-271 "RIPE NCC Hostcount in the 21st century". Part of the strategy is to provide statistics in a more accessible and generally understandable way.

RIPE NCC is expanding its use of X.509 certificates, with a focus on direct membership needs. It is also continuing work on database updates, RPSL, and related technical projects.

Membership has been rising again at RIPE NCC and it is likely that the budget will return to surplus by the end of 2003. There is a proposal to expand the membership categories and modify the Articles of Association to allow more flexibility in budgeting and activity planning. RIPE NCC is planning for a gradual long term shrinking of staff.

The presenter provided an overview of the status of the emerging RIR, AfriNIC. The presenter noted that he is currently working at the office of RIPE NCC.

It was noted the some existing members of RIPE NCC, ARIN and APNIC will move to AfriNIC upon its establishment. AfriNIC currently has only two staff members.

There was a review of the support from the other RIRs, especially the workshop organised by LACNIC, the statement of support from ARIN, and the transition assistance provide by RIPE NCC.

The presenter outlined the history of AfriNIC meetings, drawing attention to the milestones which have been met. In 2003, AfriNIC announced the selection of locations for AfriNIC activities: Ghana (training), Mauritius (administrative), South Africa (technical), and Egypt (backup).

The presenter noted that the upcoming AfriNIC AGM is to be held in Johannesburg.

This was an update of the global statistical report that is made regularly at many forums.

In IPv4, the four RIRs currently hold 39 /8s, IANA holds 91 (unallocated), and the "Central Registry" (referring to historical allocations) holds 94.

A comparison of IPv4 allocations in 2003 shows that APNIC has allocated the most IPv4 addresses this year. A cumulative comparison shows that the established RIRs are converging in total IPv4 allocation amounts.

ARIN has made around 55 percent of the total ASN assignments, followed by RIPE NCC, APNIC, then LACNIC.

RIPE NCC has made around 53 percent of the total IPv6 allocations, followed by APNIC, ARIN, and LACNIC. Japan has received the most IPv6 allocations.

The presenter noted that all relevant statistics are available online.

Questions and discussion

None

General discussions on RIR reports

There was a brief discussion of the RIR response times reported. It was noted that it is important to distinguish between response times and request resolution times.

The presenter provided a report on the current activities of the Address Council. These activities included ongoing discussions of ICANN reform, nomination committee, AC process, the activities roadmap, and board election procedures.

The presenter noted the current members of the AC.

The ASO has been monitoring the progress of AfriNIC and the ongoing review of RFC 2050. The AC has also been investigating electronic voting methods.

The AC continues to work with the RIRs on ICANN reform, especially in relation to the ASO Memorandum of Understanding. The AC conducted an internal survey to provide feedback to the RIRs on this issue. The results of that survey are available on the ASO web site.

The AC in 2003 appointed German Valdez to the ICANN Board Nominations Committee.

Questions and discussion

The Chair noted that voting in the Address Council election will close at 12:30

This was a demonstration of version two of the MyAPNIC system, highlighting the new features.

The presenter gave an overview of the MyAPNIC system architecture including the use of client certificates. He then demonstrated the use of MyAPNIC. In particular, the presenter demonstrated the ability to edit and update whois records.

Questions and discussion

It was noted that MyAPNIC development drew heavily on software modules developed by RIPE NCC, and that this highlights the cooperation between the RIRs and the potential benefits to businesses with memberships in more than one region.

It was also noted that MyAPNIC demonstrations have been available at the helpdesk throughout the week.

SIG reports

The presenter thanked the SIG Co-chairs for their assistance and noted the good SIG attendance. He then reviewed the consensus items and recommended actions arising from the SIG.

Draft charter
The SIG recommended that the following draft charter be circulated to the mailing list for an eight week discussion period: "The charter of the Policy SIG is to develop policies and procedures which relate to the management and use of Internet address resources by APNIC, NIRs, and ISPs within the Asia Pacific region".

Policy process modification [prop-001-v001]
The SIG accepted by consensus the proposed policy process, which requires the text proposal to be sent to the mailing list one month before the meeting, an eight week comment period on the mailing list after the meeting, and final endorsement from EC.

APNIC document editorial policy [prop-002-v001]
The SIG accepted by consensus the proposed document editorial process, which would implement consensus decisions by requiring the Secretariat to release a draft document reflecting a SIG-AMM decision, with a single call for public review intended to ensure the draft properly represents the decision. There would be one month for editorial comments, with the possibility of additional reviews if the draft does not properly reflect the consensus. This decision was recommended to be implemented as soon as possible.

IANA IPv4 resource request procedures [prop-008-v001]
The SIG accepted by consensus the proposal that IANA should allocate IPv4 addresses to the RIRs in multiples of /8, to meet the RIRs' allocation needs for 18 months. As this is a proposal to form global policy the next step is to present it to the other regions' open policy meetings and the ASO processes.

IPv6 address space management [prop-005-v001]
The SIG supported by consensus the principle of sparse allocation practices by the RIRs in IPv6 ranges. However, the issue of allocation size from IANA to RIRs needs more discussion on the mailing list. The options discussed in the SIG were either /8 or /12, although it was noted that there tended to be more support for /8. It was clearly agreed that the IANA allocation size should be far shorter than the current size /23 for maximizing aggregation. This proposal will also need to be coordinated with other regions.

IXP assignments [prop-011-v001]
This was a proposal to modify the current policy for IXP assignment. The parts of the proposal relating to fees were withdrawn by the proponent during discussion. The rest of the proposal was generally supported and should be further discussed in the mailing list. There was consensus on the proposed definition and routing restriction clauses. The consensus relating to the 'characteristics' clause was noted to be somewhat ambiguous because of the withdrawal of the fee waiver provisions. Also, there was no resolution of some controversial points such as combination of IPv4/IPv6 assignment. The SIG Chair recommended that the agreed portions go on to the next step and that the proponent should revise and re-submit the remaining portions.

Supporting historical resource transfers [prop-006-v001]
The SIG accepted by consensus the proposal to allow transfers of historical resources to APNIC members. Under this proposal there will be no technical review or approval, but the holder of the historical resource must be verified and the recipient of the transfer must be an APNIC member. Existing historical resource holders will still be able to update their information as previously.

Informational presentations
The presenter reviewed the following informational presentations that were made during the SIG:

Summary of the current issues on IPv6 policy

IPv6 guidelines document (where is was suggested to create an IPv6 guidelines WG)

Use of the HD ratio for IPv4 utilisation measurement (which received general support from the meeting)

The presenter also reviewed the status of current action items in the Address Policy SIG.

Questions and discussion

The Chair asked for a review of the individual consensus items, with a show of hands on each issue.

Draft charter
The recommendation of the SIG was accepted, with no objections.

Policy process modification [prop-001-v001]
The recommendation of the SIG was accepted, with no objections.

APNIC document editorial policy [prop-002-v001]
The recommendation of the SIG was accepted, with no objections.

IANA IPv4 resource request procedures [prop-008-v001]
It was noted that this is global, so cannot be implemented by APNIC until it has gone through the ASO process. The AMM was asked to make a decision to accept this consensus, in order for the proposal to enter the global process.

The recommendation of the SIG was accepted, with no objections.

IPv6 address space management [prop-005-v001]
It was explained that the SIG reached consensus on the idea of sparse allocation, but the size of allocation is still to be determined.

The recommendation of the SIG was accepted, with no objections.

IXP assignments [prop-011-v001]
The recommendation of the SIG was accepted, with no objections.

Supporting historical resource transfers [prop-006-v001]
The recommendation of the SIG was accepted, with no objections.

The Chair presented a gift of appreciation to Takashi Arano for his work on the Address Policy SIG.

The presenter reviewed the role of the IX SIG and noted that the draft charter was accepted in the SIG. He also noted that Che-Hoo Cheng was accepted as co-chair.

The presenter noted that although the agenda had seemed fairly light, the meeting became very interesting, with good participation. Primarily, the reports reviewed the status of various IX projects around the region. There was also an overview of the IXP policy that was proposed in the Address Policy SIG.

The presenter thanked Sam Dickinson for minuting the meeting.

The presenter reported an action item on the Secretariat to clarify the guidelines for the APNIC ASN policy in relation to multihoming. This arose from some confusion in the APJII region about whether IX participants were eligible under the current policy.

Questions and discussion

The Chair presented a gift of appreciation to Philip Smith for his work on the SIGs and the network assistance during this meeting.

The presenter noted that this was the first time the NIR meeting had been designated as a SIG. He reviewed the content of presentations received during the SIG.

Draft charter
The SIG recommended that the following draft charter be circulated to the mailing list for an eight week discussion period: "The charter of the NIR SIG is to share information relating to the operations, policies, and procedures of National Internet Registries with the aim of promoting close cooperation both between the NIRs and
with the APNIC Secretariat".

The meeting heard reports from two NIR Policy Meetings, as well as updates on development of Whois updates, and resource management systems.

The presenter noted the successful sharing of information that this SIG allows.

The Chair presented a gift of appreciation to Akinori Maemura for his work on the NIR SIG.

Questions and discussion

The Chair asked the AMM to endorse the SIG consensus on accepting the draft charter. This was accepted without objection.

The presenter reviewed the role of the Routing SIG and noted that the draft charter was accepted in the SIG. He reviewed the open action item list and the consensus items.

Draft charter
The SIG accepted by consensus the following draft charter: "The charter of the Database SIG is to examine developments in the operation of the APNIC Whois Database and to discuss related issues affecting registration practices, database security, specification of objects and database features".

Policy for mirroring on IRR [prop-003-v001]
This was a proposal to impose restrictions on the mirroring of Internet Routing Registries, such that each IRR in a chain of IRRs would agree to the mirroring policy of the lower IRRs in the chain. The SIG recommended further discussion on mailing list.

Privacy of customer records [prop-007-v001]
The SIG accepted by consensus the proposal to make public registration of customer assignments optional and to introduce a new "hidden" attribute to restrict public visibility of private records.

Protecting resource records in APNIC Whois Database [prop-010-v001]
The SIG accepted by consensus the proposal to replace all MAINT-NULL occurrences with proper maintainer objects and to deprecate the use of NONE in the maintainer's auth attribute.

Questions and discussion

The Chair asked the AMM to endorse the consensus items from this SIG.

Draft charter
The recommendation of the SIG was accepted, with no objections.

Privacy of customer records [prop-007-v001]
The recommendation of the SIG was accepted, with no objections.

Protecting resource records in APNIC Whois Database [prop-010-v001]
The recommendation of the SIG was accepted, with no objections.

The Chair presented a gift of appreciation to Xing Li for his work on the DB SIG.

The presenter noted that he was presenting this report as the SIG Chair was currently finishing the installation of the local copy of the F-Root server. He noted the efficient and timely installation of this service.

The presenter noted that a modified version of the draft charter was accepted by consensus. He then reviewed the consensus and action items arising from the meeting.

Draft charter
The SIG accepted by consensus the following draft charter: "The charter of the DNS operations SIG is to examine developments in policies and procedures for reverse DNS operations in the Asia Pacific region. It will include topics such as reverse delegations for IPv6 networks, dynamic updates, secure DNS, current DNS software versions, and legacy transfers from other databases.".

Lame Delegation cleanup revised [prop-004-v001]
The SIG accepted by consensus the proposal for the APNIC Secretariat to commence an automated, structured cleanup of lame DNS delegations in the APNIC Whois database.

Informational presentations
The presenter reviewed the following informational presentations that were made during the SIG:

Delegation of 2.0.0.2.ip6.arpa

Implementation of 2.0.0.2.ip6.arpa

Questions and discussion

The Chair asked the AMM to endorse the consensus items from this SIG.

Draft charter
The recommendation of the SIG was accepted, with no objections.

Lame Delegation cleanup revised [prop-004-v001]
The recommendation of the SIG was accepted, with no objections.

The Chair asked George Michaelson to pass on a gift of appreciation to Joe Abley for his work on the DNS SIG.

BOF reports

The Chair noted that during APNIC meetings, BOF sessions are made available for informal public meetings which may be proposed by anyone.

APOPs report

Philip Smith, Cisco

The presenter described the role of APOPs, which was originally intended to provide an equivalent to the NANOG and EOF mailing lists. APOPs also holds regular meetings at APNIC and APRICOT meetings.

This BOF included reviews of recent operational meetings, the project to establish IP telephony links between ASes, Internet development in Afghanistan, and the process of tracking worm infections on the meeting network this week.

Questions and discussion

The Chair noted that there have been some requests to increase the length of the APOPs meeting, but that there is a need to encourage more suitable content.

It was also noted that there was also a short, useful meeting held in relation to NIR systems. It was agreed that this should be held as a BOF and reported at the next APNIC meeting.

He also thanked World Bank for supporting the fellowship program, the SIG chairs, the stenocaptioners, the translators, APNIC staff, and EC members. He gave special thanks to KRNIC as the host organization for delivering a successful meeting.

Next meeting

APNIC 17 to be held in Kuala Lumpur during APRICOT which runs from 18-27 February.

The Chair announced that the call for proposals for APNIC 18 will be released shortly. He encouraged all interested parties to consider making a proposal.